The Village of Manhattan’s last board meeting was brief and business as usual, with nary a word about the tense exchanges and accusations on Facebook between Trustees Justin Young and Dave Beemsterboer —a stark contrast from the cutthroat campaigning for the April election.
On Thursday, February 26, Trustee Justin Young, who is seeking reelection as a trustee, made a lengthy Facebook post addressing the notion that an active ethics complaint against him was pending with the State of Illinois. The post drew over 100 comments.
Trustee candidate Tom Biscan initially made the accusation on his campaign website, stating that the “only Trustee to run for reelection with the Mayor currently has an active Ethics Complaint against him with the State of Illinois,” referencing Young. Though Biscan is not currently a trustee, he previously served as one in the Village.
The accusation was referenced in campaign materials by the opposing political slate.
However, it was Mayoral candidate Beemsterboer who responded to Young’s post, stating, “First of all let me say that Trustee Justin Young is correct, there currently is not an ongoing ethics investigation against him at this time. It is true that I, along with Trustee Tom Doyle, Village Administrator Jeff Wold, and Trustee Bob Dilling, filed a complaint in SEPTEMBER with the Illinois State Police Special Investigations Unit for Public Corruption.”
Though Beemsterboer clarified that there was no investigation, he doubled down on his accusation that Young should be investigated for ethical violations. Beemsterboer prolifically copied and pasted his comments online and screenshots of what he believed to be proof to spread the word that his accusation wasn’t a smear campaign.
On one of the posts, Village Administrator Jeff Wold vehemently denied any involvement, stating, “The comment about me is simply not true. I filed no such report with any agency! I don’t know why I am being used in a political post. Also, other than at a Village Board meeting, have I ever met with you, Bob [Dilling], and Tom [Doyle]to discuss any matter what so ever [?] Actually, that would be some type of violation for you three to get together to discuss Village business.”
Beemsterboer never responded to Wold’s comment.
Beemsterboer’s statement continued, stating, “We felt, and the State Police agreed, that by law we were obligated to uphold our oath and report anything we feel that may be illegal or unethical.”
He posted a transcript of a voicemail from “Monica S with the State Police” as proof of the state police’s agreement—except the voicemail transcript simply directed Beemsterboer to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office.
The Vedette submitted a FOIA request to the Illinois Attorney General’s office to determine whether there was ever a record of a complaint or investigation filed with their office. There was none.
“This office has conducted a search of its records by sending inquiries to this office’s Public Access and Public Interest Bureaus, and we have located no records responsive to your request,” the response stated after filing an extension to conduct a more in-depth search.
Although there is no record of a state ethics investigation into Young by the Illinois State Police or the Attorney General’s office, Beemsterboer made an internal complaint against Young last fall because his campaign Facebook page was linked to the Village Hall’s phone number, which he referenced in the comments of Young’s post.
Additionally, Beemsterboer alleged that Young improperly used public funds for a private purpose by having Village staff print a parking sign at the Village’s Labor Day event, where his baseball team volunteered and accepted tips as donations. A screenshot of the parking sign was included.
At Beemsterboer’s request, the Village’s law firm, Spesia and Taylor, internally investigated the allegations and reported its findings.
According to a FOIA obtained by The Vedette, the investigation generated nearly 35 hours of legal fees between October 17, 2024, and November 19, 2024, totaling $7,503.50.
The culmination of the eight-page, privileged and confidentially-stamped report that the Vedette obtained found no evidence of misconduct on Young’s part.
Beemsterboer posted an unstamped draft of the report in the comments, which only fueled the feud.
“Dave Beemsterboer thank you for sharing the executive sessions details. Legally we cannot discuss the executive session details, I take that oath very seriously,” Young replied, adding that now the public could see where the ethics allegations came from.
Young slammed Beemsterboer in the comments, stating: “This post just only shows that you were trying your hardest to prove I did something wrong when I never did and you don’t understand what you can and cannot do with executive session discussions.”
The report investigated Beemsterboer’s claims in-depth, referencing case law in its judgment that ultimately exonerated Young.
“Based on our review of case law, our office does not believe this was an improper use of public funds for a private purpose,” the report read.
It went on to state, “Based on our review of the case law, we believe that it is unlikely that a Trustee’s staff request for the Village to make a parking sign for a non-profit organization that they are not an officer or director of, would rise to the level of official misconduct under either the Illinois Criminal Code or the Illinois Municipal Code, although we would note that there is limited case law in this area.”
“Based on the facts presented to our office, the Trustee did not willfully and intentionally fail to perform a duty required of him when asking for the sign to be made, and thus, our office does not believe this was a culpable omission of a duty by the Trustee,” the report continued.
Spesia and Taylor noted that they consulted Monica Sizek with the Illinois State Police’s Task Force on Public Corruption. They reported that Sizek said it was not a criminal case, but that ethical complaints would be filed by the Attorney General’s office.
The report’s summation stated, “Thus, our office does not believe the Trustee’s action rises to the level of misconduct under the Illinois Municipal Code.”
During the Board meeting, Erica Aultz spoke during public comment to request that the Village adopt the Illinois Hate Crime statute into the Village Code.
The Board approved a liquor license, which enabled Peaceful Grounds Coffee Company to sell coffee drinks with liquor, wine, and craft beer.
Additionally, the Board approved Justin VanVooren as Village Treasurer. VanVooren was recently hired as the Village’s Finance Director.
The Village also approved Proclean to provide cleaning services for the Village and police station, which is a local business that also had the lowest bid.
The April 1 Board meeting, which is also election day, will be canceled as the Village Hall is an election site.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.